Driving to listen to music, relieve the heart

Traffic jams and uncivilized driving have caused many people to suffer from "road rage," and their hearts are also under great pressure. Researchers from Sao Paulo State University in Brazil, Oxford Brookes University in England and Parma University in Italy found that listening to the right music while driving can help reduce stress on the heart.

The researchers selected five female participants aged 18 to 23, and analyzed the effect of music on the stress on their hearts. These women are in good health, driving 1 to 2 times a week and driving for 1 to 7 years. The reason why the researchers chose women who don't usually drive much is that people who drive frequently and have a driver's license for a long time are better able to adapt to traffic stress. The test lasted for two days. On the first day, they drove 3 kilometers on a congested road without listening to music; on the second day, they drove along the same route at the same time, but listened to music. The researchers assessed the stress levels on the participants' hearts through changes in heart rate. The results showed that participants who did not listen to music while driving had lower heart rate variability and greater stress; those who listened to music increased heart rate variability, decreased sympathetic nervous system activity, and lower stress levels, which was beneficial to cardiovascular health.